# Factorial — Absence Management

Factorial by Factorial HR S.L. holds a panel rating of 1/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 1.5/5), as of 2026-10-15. Provenance: EU-Made; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Factorial HR S.L. (https://factorialhr.de)
- Category: [Absence Management](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): EU-Made
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/factorial
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/factorial/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/factorial/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-10-21 · evaluated 2026-10-15 · oldest source captured 2026-10-03

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Factorial HR S.L.
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026

## The panel's verdict

Factorial HR S.L. of Barcelona sells absence management on factorialhr.de, scoring strongest on payroll handover, 3 to 4, and sovereignty, 5 to 7. The vendor's site carries integration pages for DATEV and a DATEV LODAS API, and the published subprocessor list names hosting on AWS in Frankfurt, Azure in Germany and Sweden, email via SendGrid in Ireland and analytics on Google Cloud in the EU — judges weighed this detail against data residency and the contracting entity being unconfirmed on the captured pages. Weakest are pricing transparency, 0 to 1: a pricing page exists, yet no price figure, tier or pricing basis is public. Sick leave and the eAU scored 0 to 1, and no captured page addresses sickness. Leave policies spread 0 to 2 and requests and approvals 0 to 2 as judges weighed the German leave and entitlements pages against no confirmed facts on entitlement arithmetic or approval flows. Absence data protection spread 2 to 4: some judges credited the published data processing agreement, single sign-on and audit logging; others found silence on who sees a sickness reason or certificate decisive.

**Speaks for it:**
- The vendor's site publishes integration pages naming DATEV and a DATEV LODAS API for German payroll handover
- The published subprocessor list names hosting on AWS in Frankfurt and Azure in Germany and Sweden, email via SendGrid in Ireland, and analytics on Google Cloud in the EU
- A platform data processing agreement, single sign-on, least-privilege access and audit logging are published
- A trust center offers request-based access to private audit reports
- Security scan grades dated 27/03/2026 are published: ImmuniWeb A, MDN Observatory B+, Qualys SSL Labs A+

**Held against it:**
- We found no public information on how entitlements, part-time proration, carry-over or public holidays per federal state are computed
- Only downloadable templates were captured for requests and approvals, with no public information on approval chains, substitutes or what colleagues may see
- We found no public information on sick notifications, eAU retrieval, six-week continued-pay counting or child sick days
- No price figure, tier, pricing basis, minimum users or term could be confirmed from the captured pricing page
- We found no public information on who may see a sickness reason or certificate, on retention of absence records, or on works-council documentation

**Best for:**
- You already run DATEV payroll and want a vendor that publicly names DATEV and DATEV LODAS API integrations
- Your procurement requires a published subprocessor list with named locations before shortlisting
- You want a published platform data processing agreement with single sign-on and audit logging in place from the start

**Avoid if:**
- You need the regulated sick-leave process — ask the vendor: the public pages we read do not show it
- You must compute an annual cost before a sales conversation; the captured pricing page yields no price figure, tier or pricing basis
- You rely on documented approval chains, substitutes and calendar-visibility settings; the only captured material on requests is downloadable templates
- You need German entitlement arithmetic — part-time proration, federal-state holidays, carry-over with expiry — confirmed in the product

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price.

| Criterion | The Team Lead | The Managing Director | The Payroll Accountant | The Data Protection Officer | The HR IT Integrator | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Entitlements & German leave rules | 0/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 0.5/5 | 0/5 | 0.5/5 |
| Requests, approvals & team calendar | 0/5 | 1/5 | 0.5/5 | 0.5/5 | 0/5 | 0.5/5 |
| Sick leave, eAU & continued pay | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0.5/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 |
| Payroll handover, time tracking & API | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 |
| Health data, access & works council | 2/5 | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| European sovereignty | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 2.5/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 0/5 | 0.5/5 | 0.5/5 | 0.5/5 | 0/5 | 0.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **0.5/5** | **1/5** | **1.5/5** | **2/5** | **1.5/5** | **1/5** |

### The judges

- **The Team Lead** (v1.0): Approves leave for twelve people across two shifts and finds out about clashes too late. Wants requests and approvals on the phone, a named substitute on every request, minimum-staffing warnings before approval, and a team calendar that shows who is away without showing why.
- **The Managing Director** (v1.0): Runs a forty-person company in two federal states without an HR department and is liable when leave is calculated wrong. Wants part-time entitlements prorated correctly, the right public holidays per site, carry-over that lapses only after employees were told, and the eAU handled without a phone call to every health insurer.
- **The Payroll Accountant** (v1.0): Closes payroll in DATEV every month and corrects whatever arrived late. Wants absences exported with the right payroll codes, the eAU result attached to the sick day, the six-week continued-pay limit counted per illness, and past months locked once they are paid.
- **The Data Protection Officer** (v1.0): Treats every sick day as special-category data, because the law does. Asks who can see a reason or a certificate, how long absence records are kept and deleted, whether access is logged, where the data is hosted, and which subprocessors send the push notification that says someone is ill.
- **The HR IT Integrator** (v1.0): Wires the absence tool to payroll, time tracking, the identity provider and the calendar. Wants a documented API and webhooks, maintained connectors for the named German payroll systems rather than a CSV, SSO, and balances that agree with the time-tracking system on both sides.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Knows "eAU supported" can mean a photo upload, "DATEV integration" can mean a CSV, and "GDPR-compliant" can mean every manager sees every diagnosis-adjacent note. Reads for who actually retrieves the certificate, which leave rules are computed rather than typed in, and whether the carry-over expiry notice exists at all.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Ownership | Not determined | — | — |
| Data residency | Not determined | — | — |
| Subprocessors | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Data privacy docs: Internal Audits · Platform Data Processing Agreement (DPA) · Data Subjects Rights [S4]
- DPA offered: yes [S4]
- Private documents access: private documents require requesting access [S4]
- Security grades: 27/03/2026 · A · ImmuniWeb · 27/03/2026 · B+ · MDN Observatory · 27/03/2026 · A+ · Qualys SSL Labs [S4]
- Security grades: A · ImmuniWeb · 27/03/2026 · B+ · MDN Observatory · 27/03/2026 · A+ · Qualys SSL Labs · 27/03/2026 [S4]
- Security policy URL: www.factorialhr.com/security-policy [S4]
- Slas: Customer Support SLAs · Platform SLA · yes [S4]
- Vulnerability reporting: yes [S4]

**Data**
- DPA: Platform Data Processing Agreement (DPA) · yes [S4]

**Hosting**
- Providers: Amazon Web Services · Azure [S4]
- Providers: Amazon Web Services · Azure [S4]

**Legal**
- Corporate responsibility: Corporate Responsibility Report · yes [S4]
- Privacy policy: Privacy Policy · yes [S4]

**Product**
- Access control: Internal Single-Sign-On (SSO) · Least Privilege · Logging [S4]
- Access control features: Internal Single-Sign-On (SSO) · Least Privilege · Logging [S4]
- AI capabilities: AI Overview · AI Feature · AI Training Data [S4]
- AI features documented: AI Overview · AI Feature · AI Training Data [S4]
- App security features: Application Penetration Testing · Credential Management · Software Development Lifecycle [S4]
- Bc dr features: Business Continuity Plan (BCP) · Contingency Plan Testing/Lessons Learned · Critical Assets [S4]
- Change and monitoring: Asset Management · Change Management · Continuous Monitoring [S4]
- Corporate security features: Asset Management Practices · Email Protection · Employee Training [S4]
- Data security features: Access Monitoring · Data Asset Classification · Data Backups [S4]
- Endpoint security features: Anti-Malware · Disk Encryption · Endpoint Detection & Response [S4]
- Faq topics: uptime guarantee · AI outputs auto-actioning · employee security protocols · SSO · MFA [S4]
- Faq topics: uptime guarantee · AI-generated outputs auto-actioned · employee security protocols · SSO · MFA [S4]
- Incident response features: Designated Response Personnel · Incident Reporting Process · Pager Service [S4]
- Network security features: Data Loss Prevention · Distributed Denial of Service Protection (Anti-DDoS) · Security Information and Event Management [S4]
- Policies: Security Policies Pack · Acceptable Use Policy · System Access Control Policy [S4]
- Risk profile: 1 day · 1 hour · Restricted [S4]
- Risk profile: Restricted · 1 hour · 1 day [S4]
- Security capability areas: Audit Logging · Data Security · Integrations [S4]
- Security domains: Audit Logging · Data Security · Integrations [S4]
- Training: Employee Privacy Training · Phishing Training · Security Awareness Training [S4]
- Training offered: Employee Privacy Training · Phishing Training · Security Awareness Training [S4]
- Vulnerability reporting: Report issue · yes [S4]

**Subprocessors**
- Aws hosting: Web hosting · Frankfurt, Germany [S4]
- Confluent: Process optimisation · Germany (EU) · EU SCCs [S4]
- Google cloud: Analytics on aggregated/statistical usage data · EU · EU SCCs [S4]
- Microsoft azure: Webhosting; Azure OpenAI for AI suggestions and content generation (ATS, Performance Reviews, analytics, competency suggestions) · Germany (EU) / Sweden (EU) · EU SCCs [S4]
- Sendgrid: Email delivery service · Ireland (EU) [S4]
- Shopify: IT Hardware marketplace · Backoffice/engine for IT Hardware Marketplace · Germany (EU) [S4]
- Signaturit: Electronic signature management and financial document certification · Ireland (EU) [S4]

**Support**
- Slas offered: Customer Support SLAs · Platform SLA [S4]
- Trust center access: Trust Center with request-based access to private audit reports [S4]

## Questions

### Is Factorial European?

Yes. whats-best.ai classifies Factorial as EU-Made.

### Where does Factorial store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026.

### Does Factorial have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to Factorial?

As of 15 Oct 2026, the panel rates [Kenjo (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/kenjo), [flair (2.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/flair-hr) and [HRlab (2.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/hrlab) highest among the other 16 Absence Management products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Kenjo](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/kenjo) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Factorial alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/factorial/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- We could not confirm any pricing information on the vendor’s own pages as captured, so this page shows none rather than a statement we cannot stand behind.
- 104 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 30 subprocessors facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 24 integrations facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 23 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 9 data facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 5 legal facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 4 support facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 3 hosting facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 3 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.
- 6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://factorialhr.de/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S2] Pricing page: https://factorialhr.de/preise (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S3] Privacy policy — names the entity: https://factorialhr.de/datenschutz (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S4] Security / trust page: https://factorialhr.de/sicherheit (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S5] Leave management: https://factorialhr.de/urlaubsverwaltung (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S6] Entitlements & German leave rules — found from sitemap: https://factorialhr.de/urlaubsverwaltung-software-1 (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S7] Requests, approvals & team calendar — found from sitemap: https://factorialhr.de/vorlagen/interaktiver-hr-kalender (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S8] Requests, approvals & team calendar — found from sitemap: https://factorialhr.de/vorlagen/vorlage-urlaubsantrag (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S9] Payroll handover, time tracking & API — found from sitemap: https://factorialhr.de/apps/integration/datev-lodas-api (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S10] Payroll handover, time tracking & API — found from sitemap: https://factorialhr.de/apps/integration/datev (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S11] Health data, access & works council — found from sitemap: https://factorialhr.de/datenschutz-app (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S12] Health data, access & works council — found from sitemap: https://factorialhr.de/dsgvo (checked 2026-10-13)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Factorial — Absence Management", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-10-21. https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/factorial

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/679?target=page